Lights for night trail running

Not sure whether this should go here or in the Gear category... Anyway, with more and more night trail runs taking place where I live, it's time to invest in a light of some sort if I don't want to twist my ankle badly.

Any recommendations? A lot of people do these events wearing head lights (lamps?) but they don't look very comfortable, and I'd rather not carry a flashlight in my hand the entire 10 or 15K. Are there models that can be hooked to the waistband of one's shorts? I imagine anything worn around the neck would bounce all over the place.

Headlamps do take a bit getting used to but are not that uncomfortable. You can also wear them around your waist. Petzl is a pretty popular brand, I have both Petzl and Princeton. The Princeton is nice, it has a regulated light, meaning it doesn't dim as the batteries die. Headlamps alone can be an issue as it can give you a weird tunnel vision effect, so I wear one on my head and one on my waist.

I generally only wear a headlamp in winter because of dark and light hours in Alaska, so it's over a cap of some sort. Some headlamps can be detached from the bands and attached to a waist belt or sternum strap - or if the headband is big enough, just put it around waist.

When I use a light, it's usually Black Diamond Spot or Storm, but it's mostly on snow-covered trails. I think they're decent for dirt trails also, but I don't have that much experience. I've found the bright light works well for running, and the low lights are better for around an aid station or camp or something - wider beam but not as bright.

Consider using lithium batteries for longer shelf life, longer active life, esp. in cold weather. I think most headlamps can handle them now, but some used to overheat (like that's a problem at 0F). They don't fade like regular batteries do when they get low, so they go out fast when they do. I think some lamps do have a dimming built in so you have a little bit of warning.

First, I wasskeptical of running at night...not really sure why, but never thought anything of it until I gave it a shot. I think it's a great feeling. It's peaceful and just gives time for some solidarity. My headlamp picks...the Princeton Tec Byte is a great choice while trying to get used to a headlamp. It's inexpensive and lights the way decently well. http://www.trailrunnermag.com/...8-princeton-tec-byte

If you find you're totally digging the night running thing or need something with some more lumens, check out the Petzl Nao...a lot of top ultra runners use it...it is pretty pricey, but awesome.

First, I wasskeptical of running at night...not really sure why, but never thought anything of it until I gave it a shot. I think it's a great feeling. It's peaceful and just gives time for some solidarity. My headlamp picks...the Princeton Tec Byte is a great choice while trying to get used to a headlamp. It's inexpensive and lights the way decently well. http://www.trailrunnermag.com/...8-princeton-tec-byte

If you find you're totally digging the night running thing or need something with some more lumens, check out the Petzl Nao...a lot of top ultra runners use it...it is pretty pricey, but awesome.

I'm very new to trail running at all, but this place where I live sponsors monthly night runs, every Thursday evening on the week of the full moon. I went the first time and got hooked - it's such a great event, organized BY runners FOR runners - no corporate sponsors, no prizes. Just great people (everyone puts in a few dollars to cover expenses) and a great spread. Some people drive for three or four hours to come to these things!

Anyway, running through the night is just dreamlike and very cool. I'd forego the light entirely, but last time I nearly wrenched my ankle and I'm not willing to put myself out of commission because I can't see dips in the trail.

I've got a black diamond (cosmo I think). It says it's water resistant. After my latest hunting trip I sent it through the wash in my pants pocket. It still works. It's comparatively comfortable and the beam intensity and width are very adjustable and was <$30.

I find that a headlamp makes it hard to see terrain features. The light is emitted from close to your eyes, so you don't see a lot of shadows. On trails, I like to use a handheld light,sometimes with a floodlight on my head.

I am a huge fan of Knuckle Lights for night time running. They naturally point down to the ground in front of you and you can adjust the brightness. Even though you wear them on your hands, they don't really interfere with anything because you don't have to actually hold onto them.

+1 to a handheld light (by itself or in conjunction with headlight). I have a fenix ld22 that I use for running. I'd recommend giving a handheld a try to see if it works for you, especially since a handheld has many other uses besides running.

I am a huge fan of Knuckle Lights for night time running. They naturally point down to the ground in front of you and you can adjust the brightness. Even though you wear them on your hands, they don't really interfere with anything because you don't have to actually hold onto them.

First, I wasskeptical of running at night...not really sure why, but never thought anything of it until I gave it a shot. I think it's a great feeling. It's peaceful and just gives time for some solidarity. My headlamp picks...the Princeton Tec Byte is a great choice while trying to get used to a headlamp. It's inexpensive and lights the way decently well. http://www.trailrunnermag.com/...8-princeton-tec-byte

If you find you're totally digging the night running thing or need something with some more lumens, check out the Petzl Nao...a lot of top ultra runners use it...it is pretty pricey, but awesome.

Well reading the comments I am very shocked . My experience with the brands mentioned was not nearly as joyful. I do lots of trail running and because I work 8 to 5 most of my training happens at night. I tried Princetec, Ledlenzer and Petzl. The last light I tried was the Petzl Myo RXP and it was ok but I still did not like it. I even replaced the LED with a newer Cree XM-L U2 but it still was on the limits of ok in my opinion. What I liked about it was that I could make the beam even and wide. Much wider than the Ledlenzer which have a zoom lens. That is very important for trail running i.m.o. The fact that I could not recharge it and that it did not really last very long on rechargeable batteries was an issue. It was also not very bright in comparison to my cycle light.

I can't imagine running at full pace with a cellphone light. Surely that was a joke?

Based on my experience the following properties are what you should look for in a trail running light.

1. Wide and even beam with no hot spot to distract you.

2. It should have sufficient amount of light to illuminate 10m in front of you and fill your peripheral vision. further is not needed but that pool of light should be bright!

3. Runtimes should last more than x3 times your normal usage. This is a safety limit. If you run 1h at night then it should last 3h. The reason being you normally walk much slower with a broken ankle....

4. it must be balanced and comfortable. That goes with out saying but just to be clear.

5. It must be rechargeable. If you frequently use the light and you have to buy normal batteries it is going to cost you an arm and a leg. You can use rechargeable AA or AAA cells but they really don't have the same amount of power to weight ratio as Li-ion. Li-ion can also be charge after every use with out any detrimental effect. Unlike AA and AAA cells.

6. water proofing is a very important aspect.

After very long searching i found this light Extreme 1k zoom. It blow me away! The beam is perfectly smooth and very very wide. It produces 800 Lumen for 3h(With the High Quality Panasonic cells) and totally over powers even my upgraded RXP. The best part about it was the Li-ion rechargeable battery. On it low setting it produces more light than the RXP for 15h!!!. I did make the mistake of getting cheap cells in the beginning but that was a mistake. High Quality Panasonic cells are just on another level.

At first I was put of by the size but it turned out to be very comfortable. I don't even notice it now.

I hope that helps

Was interested in reading this but have not been able to find anywhere that sells them.It appears that it is a South African brand but not apparently readily available.

I use both a head light and a hand held of the LED type. If running on technical terrain it is nice to use both together to be able to see the obstacles. I find that if I use only a head light it makes the trail flat and it is hard to see the roots and rocks sticking up. By holding a hand held down by your waist you can see the details of the trial. How bright of a light really depends on how easy the trial is to follow and if you are looking for trail markers.

Someone who knows I run asked me if I wanted her pair of Knuckle Lights. Never one to refuse free stuff, I said sure. Now that I have tried them a couple of times, I wonder what sort of trails the folks who are on here endorsing them are running on. Knuckle Lights are great in parking lots, between street lights, or something like that, but they are almost worthless on friendly trails and totally worthless if you get to the rocky, rootie, twisty places. They are underpowered (45 lumen), force you to keep your hands in a position to keep the lights feeble beams (not really a beam, is a broad swath light) pointed where you need to see... when you start running up/down/on a technical trail it is almost impossible to keep Knuckle Lights pointed anywhere useful (arms tend to swing keeping balance).

There are a lot of headlights (since that is what Knuckle Lights seem to prefer being compared to) with more brightness, better depth of field, and comparable battery life. I have a Black Diamond and a Petzl that on reduced power still top the Knuckle Light for performance because the headlight's beam instead of diffused light.

If you are going to be out at night and anticipate a variety of trail conditions it is almost mandatory to have a hand-held light and a head light. Use whichever you like when on easy trails, turn on the second one when you get to the ugly stuff. If you seem unable to get comfortable with a flashlight, check on carrying it in the other hand. You might have a "handedness" to light carrying.

An extra set of batteries is almost useless if you cannot see to install them. In addition to the batteries, or instead of, carry a small (single LED, AA battery) light. It gives enough light to replace batteries or to get back to the trailhead.

Headlamp. I use the Petzl Tikka RXP. I have quite a few lights for my bikes, and same as on a bike you ideally want the light to shine where you are looking. I don't have knuckle lights, but I can't see how they'd work when you're running and pumping your arms and you need to see where you are going?

Anyway, when I turn my head I want to see what I'm looking at so a headlamp is the best option for me. If I added another light it would probably be a light attached to my waist.

...Knuckle Lights are great in parking lots, between street lights, or something like that, but they are almost worthless on friendly trails and totally worthless if you get to the rocky, rootie, twisty places. ..

I'm wondering if they are intended more to make you visible to traffic, including snowmachines on trails. I saw a couple people in a 5k today with knuckle lights and other accessories, like rear facing red lights and a set of lights that had his pack looking like a Christmas tree. There were also HM and marathon races, but I think the larger number of lights were on the 5k folks. The races go across frozen lakes and swamps with snowmachine traffic, and it's advised to have lights on to make it easier for snowmachiners to see you. Most of the riders were friendly.

From what I saw of the knuckle lights, it wasn't clear that they provided much light for seeing things, but I was just viewing them, not using them. (I used my BD Spot).

It was a solstice race starting before sunrise and finishing, well, when the last people crossed the line. Many marathoners got their money's worth from before sunrise to after sunset (about 5.5 hrs) on mashed potato snow.

I erred. The Christmas tree-like lights were on one of the marathoners. So maybe some of the other really-lit up runners were on the longer race also. Knuckle lights were definitely the 5k, since they were headed back while I was still outbound (HM).

Thank you for the good advice on headlamps. I'm about to invest in my first, so knowing what a 'regulated' unit is will be good to know. Running with 2 lamps? Great idea! Regarding Petzl and Princeton models, if you had to run with only one, which would it be?

Regarding Petzl and Princeton models, if you had to run with only one, which would it be?

Cheers,

Both make quality products. I have a Princeton Remix and it does great when running out where there aren't any lights and the battery life it pretty long. I don't remember the numbers off hand, but I'm sure it's on the website.

I'm stuck on my Petzl Tikka RXP with Reactive lighting. I like the fact that the light dims when I go indoors, encounter approaching cars, or run under street lamps etc. The light can also be set to just run at high medium or low like a normal headlamp also. It's plenty bright. Last night I ran with her and her Energizer $25 box store light, the difference is night and day to say the least.

Some considerations for a light should be max lumens, run time, weight, and battery type imho. I prefer a rechargeable battery, I just charge it after every use. I always wonder with regular batteries if I'm getting close to empty and need to change them, this eliminates that, I know every time I take off that it's fully charged.

Comfort is an issue also, but it's hard to compare that unless you can find all of the lights at the same place to try on.

I can only suggest if you are serious about a good light buy a good one. You'll spend more than you want probably, but you get what you pay for. A $40 light is fine for urban running, but if you really want to be able to see on the trail, and have enough run time you're going to have to spend a bit more.

regulated means the light is supposed to hold its brightness until the battery is mostly dead. Think of a couple trail profiles, one a slope(nonregulated) and one a plateau with a cliff at the end. I've always worried about "dropping off the cliff" so I almost always run with two lights. Recently I've been wondering just how regulated the princeton is. I've had one fenix hand held and think one of thier headlamps will be my next purchase. They have some absurdly bright lights. I'll have to make sure to turn them down at aid stations, my princeton with fresh batteries was annoying to others, I could tell by them putting thier hands over thier eyes

As others posted, it is a very good idea to carry a back up light. Having a light go dead out in the middle of nowhere without a usable spare is no fun. I used to do wildland fire and learned to carry three lights: a couple headlamps and something handheld, plus plenty of batteries Had to use a backup more than once, and changing batteries out in the dark can be a lot harder than it seems.

Knuckle lights just don't seem very effective away from street lights and pavement.

I fall enough in the day so wouldn't trust myself even with a car headlight on my head. But I do agree that night runs are charming. I solved this problem, and found a place where the moon and stars could actually be seen while running, and that's on the track in my local park. It's dark but eyes adjust, no light needed.

Still, runners should keep a headlamp on standby, you never know. I have two. During blackouts, I walked around the house like a coal miner (this is less frequent since PSE&G swapped in a new transformer on the power line). Even used them for reading. On low power, the light lasts forever.

Best headlamp i have ever used for my long early morning runs was foxelli mx500. It is rechargeable and has an outstanding battery life time. I like that it is lightweight and also very comfortable to wear during the long runs, seems to be well build and looks quit stylish What else can you ask from a headlamp...

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